Hay crushing machine



Sept. 12, 1950 T. 1'. sao'rr 2,521,999

HAY QRUSHING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

67 II 1'. SCOTT ATTORNEY Sept. 12, 1950 T. T. scoTT 2,521,999

HAY CRUSHING IIACHINE Filed July 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

INVEN TOR.

T- SCOTT Sept. 12, 1950 T. 'r. SCOTT HAY CRUSHING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet, 3

Filed July {5, 1947 INVENTOR.

T T SCOTT I Patented Sipt- 12, 1950' um'rso sures PATENT orjrncs HAYCRUSIING MACHINE Thurman '1. Scott, Thoma-"ills, Ga. Application Jul! s,1941, No. mass 3 Claim. (01. se-i) 1 The object of my invention is toprovide a novelhaycrushingmachinewhichwilicut and deliver it by anendless conveyor to rollers which crush the hay, in a single. continuousoperation, and thus hasten its drying or 'sothat the hay or otherharvest may be more quickly handled and the hay willnot have to remai inthe sun so long that it becomes baked on with the resultant loss of muchfood value, minerals, vitamins, etc. Additional advantages in suchquick-curing of hay are these: First, because the hay is stored sooner,it is less likely to get rained on and thus damaged; second, the haydoes not have to be stacked; it can be aircured quickly on the ground,then windrowed and baled or gathered from the windrow, thus savingconsiderable labor and making for an easier as well as a taster a tion:third, the stems of some hay crop such as cow-pea, soybean, kudauandothers, tend to become tough and w during the usual curing operation,thus making them extremely unpalatable to livestock. when crushed andquickly cured, as with this machine, the stems remain tender and arepalatable in livestock. I

It is a particular object of my invention to provide a machine that willoperate eiiiciently on cow-pea. oybean. clover, kudzu and other "toughhay as well as alfalfa and grass hay and handle all more quickly andmore economi= caliy thanhas been his by prior methods. Because of anovel arrangement on this machine, it is possible to cut and crusheffectively either iine, or heavy-stemmed hay without squ valuablefood-: juices from the'hay.

l attain these and other objects of my invention by the mechanismillustrated in the accom-J my l'drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine as seen from the left handside and rear end;

Fig.2 is a perspective view of the machine as seen'from the right handside in front of the cutter bars and revolving paddles; Fig. 3 is anenlarged side elevation oi a portion of the right hand side of the mac;7 Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the hay crusher viewed from the leftside showing the relation of the bottom top conveyor belts. shelf andcrushing rollers.

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevational view illustrating the drive assemblyfor the rollers. the dotted lines indicating the lowered position of themovable bottom roller; 8 is a vertical for top roller shalt 20;

view of the bearing 6 sprocket 42 which is mounted on 2'FlgJlisaverticallectionalviewoftbebearingfor thebottomrollerahai't; andFl JlsasectiononlineF-totl'lgfll. Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, I provide a power drive shaft I (Fig. 1), covered by a shield2. Power drive shaft I is operatively connected by a gear reductionassembly 3 to the 'drive shaft I. and extends all the way through slipor jump-type clutch I. Drive shart i so the drive shaft sprocket t, asshown in Fig. l. Sprocket 0 drives the sprocket chain ll, which drivesthe large sprocket i4. Sprocket I4 is mounted on the top crusher rollershaft 2|. Mounted and keyed on to shaft 20 are the following parts,beginning at the left end of shaft It and continuing on to the other orright end:

drive pulley I9, sprocket ll, drive sprocket 3|, crusher roller 5', anddrive sprocket 24, the shaft being mounted adiacent its ends on bearings22. Drive sprocket 3| .throu'g hsprocket chain 3! drives sprocket llwhich is mounted on and keyed to the same shaft with upper gear Ii. Gear4! drives lower gear I. Mounted and keyed on the same shaft as'gear 45is sprocket 4 4 which. through sprocket chain It, drives bottom crusherroller shaft 28.

Mounted on and keyed to shaft 2! are the following parts, starting fromthe left end and continuing to the right end of the shaft: sprocket 42,botinm crusher roller it -'the shaft 2| being mounted adjacent-its endson bearings 38.

As shown-1n Figure l: reel-drive pulley is, through belt i8, drives reelpulley l6. Pulley I8 is mounted on shaft ISA which carries a reel orrevolving paddles ii (see Fig. 2). Belt it is engaged by idlers Il whichmaintain tension on the belt.

Referring to Figure 3 drive sprocket 24, which is mounted on and keyedto the right hand end of upper crusher roller shaft it, through drivechain 25 which passes under idler 26 drives sprocket 21. Sprocket 21 ismounted on shaft Bl. Shaft 54 extends completely-through to the other"side of housing 8 and carries,- between the two sides ,of frame orhousing I. the drive roller on which upper conveyor canvas belt is (Fig.2)

to the other side of housing I and carries the drive roller II on whichthe lower or main conveyor canvas belt H (Fig. 4) is mounted. Gear II isalso the eccentric drive or crank, for pitmanarmliss'itcontains-shaft'tlaonwhich bearing'of pitman-shait I ismounted. shaft! is mounted on gear ll about half way between the toothededge andthe centers! the gear and the'opposite side of the gearlsweighted to counterbalance the movement and march of pitman arm ll.Essentially the drive is the same for pitman arm ll on the opposite orleft side of the.

machine and on the other end of shaft I5.

Ball-and-socket hearing It connects pitman arm I! with rocker arm ll.Rocker arm is mountedon shaft or pin it and actuates a secnd pitman arm68 through ball-and-socket hearing ll. Pitman arm It is attached tovertical mower or cutter bar ll through bearing II. A shield I1 isprovided to protect rocker arm ll.

- paddles II, and the parts associated therewith.

Frames ii-canberalsedorlowered.accordingto the cutting height desired,by lever lb (see Fig. ll

Heavy spring lccounteracts a portion of the weight of frames ii. Framesll raise or lower independently oi the rest of the machine; shaft On theopposite or left side of the machine.

shield it (Fig. 2) is provided to protect a similar rocker arm drive forhorizontal mower or cutter bar 'l'l (Fig. 2), driven by pitman arm Al.

The lower conveyor belt II is driven by shaft L and the opposite end iscarried by a shaft I2. Upper conveyor belt 13 is driven by shaft II andthe opposite end is carried by shaft 55. Both the lower and the upperconveyor belts are endless, made of canvas and with small wooden stripsor slats 13a (see Fig. 4) tacked to the canvas to reduce slippage of thematter carried.

Both of the crushing rollers (it and it) are provided with scrapers orcleaners. The scraper for crushing rollers 58 is shown at I! and thescraper for roll 56 at 51. These scrapers are Lisitsfulcrum(seel 'ig.3).Cmsherrollerhomin! {(Fig. 3) contains slot l in which bolt I. moves backand forth as frames ii are raised and lowered. As illustrated in Fig. 8,frames ii are in the down or low-cutting position. I! is a cross-bracesupport under frames il.

'RefertoFlg. l: listheframeorplatformof this machine and it canbeattached to the drawbar of a tractor. A lid 8| on the top of themachine permits the cleaning out of the front side by the main axle in,also it is secured to frame I burlap-wrapped '2 x 6 boards. Contactagainst the crushing rollers is maintained by a spring.

not shown, at each end of the scrapers.

Bearings 22 for upper crusher roller 58, which is carried on shaft II,are rigidly mounted on and bolted to the crusher roller housing orframe.

Thus upper crusher roller it turns or revolves only: it is not movableup and down, or later- Bottom crusher roller It, carried on shaft 21.also turns or revolves and further is movable down and up to allow thickmasses of hay material or sticks and foreign matter topass between thecrusher rollers. The movability is accomplished by having channelhousings for bearings It of shaft N. Fig. 7 illustrates channel housing3. for bearing on the right side of presslon spring 32, bottom plate 32aand bolts a.

32b is the top of housing 30. 34 are the adiust ing nuts on bolts "a,and llb are the lock nuts. Housing II is slightly wider and deeper thanbearing II and plate 32a so that both can freely move up and down in thehousing. 1 Bolts Ila go through bearing 36 to keep it from wobbling and,along with compression spring 3!, to prevent it from turning orrevolving with shaft 2|. Pressure of bottom crusher roller it againsttop crusher roller is regulated by adjusting nuts it and of course bythe corresponding adjusting nuts under the channel housing located ontheopposite or left side of the machine.

Thus, bottom crusher roller. It can move down and up evenly at bothends, or either end can move down and up independently of the-other end.If thick masses of hay material come into the crushing rollers evenlyalong the length of which is also mounted on axle la. Frame I containscrushing rollers II and II. bearings, shafts, sprockets and gears forthe same; scrapers II and II (in Figure 1, scraper 5'! is not seen as itis located behind shield 02 and directly under bottom crusher rollerill; shield 82; shelves m and lb, Figure 4: upper conveyor belt ll. itsrollers and component parts; and shaft L. which is the fillcrum forframes II. and component parts.

This machine is towed by a tractor and operated or powered by thetractor. Drive shaft I (Fig. l) is connected to the, power take-oil?shaft of the tractor by two universal joints. which allow for bending ofthe shaft. Shaft i drives shaft 4 and its sprocket i which drives largespocket ll. Sprocket it. through shaft II drivapulley I! and revolvingreel or paddles II and also drives both crusher rollers (top roller II bdriven direct, bottom-roller It is driven through gearsandllasshowninFig. 5) andalsodrivel sprocket 24, Figure 3. Sprocket Itdrives slmft I] which carries gear II and upper conveyor canvasbelt II.Gear It drives gear it and thusshaft L which. contains the drive rollerfor lower eonveyor canvas belt Ii. also contains the cranks or eccentricdrives for the mower or cutter bars. the crank for the vertical cutterbar I! being on its right end and'the crank for the horizontal cutterbar l'l being on its left end.

The timingof the essential moving parts of thk machine is arranged sothat the cutter bars move considerablyfaster than the conveyor belts.the conveyor belts. move slightly faster than the forward motion-of themachine and the crushing rolltesrs move slightly faster than theconveyor 'Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the operation ofthe machine in practice. As mower I bar ll. cuts the hay material itover the bar and onto lower conveyor belt II. or more strictly speakingthe mower bar moves under the material so that it falls over on theconveyor belt. The conveyor belt then takes the cut hay material up(revolving reel or paddles ll assist in movin especially starting, thematerial up the belt) and into crusher rollers II and It, where it bcrushed and the stems cracked, and then spilled the rollers or else Justat either endof the rollers, out over shield I! to the ground.

@ontinulng with Fig. the top conveyor belt will tend to direct haymaterial onto the shelf and into the jaws of crushing rollers as well ashaving a flattening-down effect on the material. This is important asmaterial travels up the belt rapidly and is frequently deposited on thelower belt in thick and heavy bunches, often uneven laterally. It mustfeed or travel smoothly into the crushing rollers.

The direction of movement of the front surface of the upper belt isdirectly opposite to the top surface of the lower belt. The relation ofthe upper and lower belts as shown in Fig. 4 is important. The lowerconveyor belt moves the hay material up against the upper conveyor belt.ihe upper conveyor belt then tends to compress it slightly and thusshaped and directed, as well as held" between the upper conveyor beltand the lower conveyor belt, the hay is moved easily between shelves 52aand 52b into the jaws of the crushing rollers 59 and 58. This is thereason why shaft 54 must be above and to the right of shaft L as shownin Fig. 4.

The position and pitch of shelf 52a is important as when the mass of haymaterial is so thin, short, scattered or in small bits that it will nottouch the upper conveyor belt and thus be thrust by the two conveyorbelts into the rollers, it then falls from the lower conveyor belt ontoshelf 62a and gravitates or slides down into the jaws of the crushingrollers.

Referring to Fig. 5, an important feature of this machine is the driveassembly for the two crusher rollers 58 and 56, The top roller 58 isstationary so far as vertical and lateral movement is concerned, but thebottom roller 56 must move up and down and thus allow for a thick bunchof vines or hay material to pass through. fhe drive assembly shownallows this motion in the bottom roller, but such motion does notinterfere with the drive. There is no slip of chains or gears. It is apositive drive at all times, and there is no chance for the timing toslip as both rollers turn at the same speed at all times.

Because the bottom crusher roller is the movable roller, it is possibleto get as little pressure or as much pressure as is desired between thetwo crushing rollers. This is important because it is never desirable tosqueeze the essential juices out of the hay. If the top roller were themovable roller and all the pressure were removed from the springs, therewould still be the weight of the roller (and that is considerable)against the bottom roller.

Another important feature is the vertical cutter blade 19. This permitsthe cuttin of a clean swath and prevents entangled or entwined vines,weeds or grass from dragging against the hay material and interferingwith its moving up the conveyor belt I I.

The draft for the hay crushing machine is set slightly of! center sothat even though the tractor moves in a straight line and directlyparallel to the cutting edge of the hay material, the hay crushingmachine itself moves slightly crabwise or sideways.

This is a very important feature as the crushed hay, after it spillsover the shield is deposited on the ground in a swath which is slightlyto the left or tractor-side of the machine. Therefore, on the next round(and this machine like any combine or mower would nearly always beWorked around and around the field in a generally circular directiontowards the center of the held), there is a clean path of about one footbetween the uncut vines or hay material and the crushed material that ison the ground. The tractor wheel can be kept in that path, and it isthus easy to guide; and the shield 38 will not become clogged or fouledwith the cut and crushed material.

I claim:

1. A hay crushing machine comprising in combination means for cuttingthe hay, drive means for said cutting means, a shaft rotatably mountedon said machine and having paddles constructed and arranged to urge thecut hay into engagement with a conveyor belt, said conveyor belt beingdisposed in an inclined position to receive hay from said cutting meansand convey the same upwardly to crushing rollers, said crushing rollersbeing mounted for rotation on said machine, one of said rollers beingresiliently urged into engagement with the other of said rollers inorder to yield and permit the passage of large bunches of hay or otherobstructions, means for driving said crushing rollers and cleanin meansassociated with said rollers and comprising scraper blades havingrelatively soft yieldable surfaces engaging said rollers to removeforeign material therefrom.

2. A hay crushing machine as defined in claim 1 in which the conveyorbelt is operated at a speed faster than the forward motion of thecrushing machine.

3. A hay crushing machine as defined in claim 1 in which the surfacespeed of the crushing rollers is greater than the surface speed of theconveyor belt.

THURMAN T. SCOTT.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 646,862 McCollum Apr. 3, 1900721,064 Monroe Feb. 17, 1903 1,958,910 Christiansen May 15, 19341,972,680 Cushman Sept. 4, 1934 2,114,580 Thompson Apr. 19, 19382,345,715 Reed Apr. 4, 1944 2,439,259 McCormack Apr, 6, 1948

